Day 3, May 17, 2002: Fairing, buffing, new seacocks

I used a grinder to remove loose fiberglass wrapping at
the bottom of the keel. Got down to bare metal. Then I faired with epoxy
with colloidal silica for a hard, durable patch. Then I sanded and faired
a little more with epoxy with low density filler for a finer finish.

Notice all the white spots. Those are high spots that
I faired off.

Keel fairinging:

Close up of ground down area that had loose glass edges. The glass was
loose because it was applied over bottom paint instead of bare metal

White splotches are high spots that were faired off.

More keel fairing...

Here's one little place where loose bottom paint came off when I faired
the hull.

I dewaxed the spot, sanded, filled with epoxy thickened with low density
filler and then filled.

The backing plate for inside the hull were cut from phenolic sheet (Grade
CE, I think, but I'm not sure). Phenolic is very chemical and resists
rot, and has great impact and structural strength. It also has good electrical
insulating properties.

If you use a backing ring made of marine plywood, be sure to put several
coats of polyurethane or epoxy on it to waterproof it from rotting.

Thru hull components before installation.

When we installed our new bronze seacocks, the yard selected seacock
with diameter about 1/4-1/2" larger in diameter than the bronze nipple
glassed to the hull. This greatly simplified the job of getting the hole
perpendicular to the hull surface.

The worker placed the hole drill around the nipple hole on the outside
of the hull, aligned the hole saw perpendicular to the hull, and drilled.
Since the hole saw was not parallel to the nipple, it cut into the side
of the bronze nipple pipe and the mound of fiberglass about an inch and
a half from the outside surface of the hull.

From the inside of the boat, he used a grinder to cut off the volacano
(and pipe) parallel to the inside surface of the hull. The top of the
volcano, with the nipple pipe attached lifted right off, and the bottom
inch of the nipple more or less fell out the bottom, leaving a perfectly
fitted, perpendicular hole.

Then he used a sander to flatten the surface of the volcano a bit more,
fitted a backing ring cut from phenolic sheet (extremely resistant to
rot and compression), drilled the holes for the thru-bolts and installed
the seacock with copious amounts of caulking.

If I recall correctly, he also put thickened epoxy under the backing
ring to bond it to the hull at the final fitting.

Drilling out the old bronze pipe nipple and the "volcano"...

Don Casey's book, This Old Boat, has an excellent step-by-step
instructions on how to remove and install seacocks on pages 289-291. I
highly recommend reading it before attempting this job yourself.

Nigel Calder's book, Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual,
2nd ed., provides an overview of installing a seacock, but does not provide
step-by-step instructions. (Though Calder's book has much more detail
on the mechanical (engine, plumbing, etc) systems in general.)

In my opinion, both of these books should be in every boat owner's library,
along with the West System boat repair manuals, Don Casey's Sailboat
Electronics Simplified, and Brion Toss' The Rigger's Apprentice,
and Richard Hendersens book Understanding Rigs and Rigging

Thru-hull installed.

Would have been nice to have a better buffer, but this one was only $40
at Sears.

Notice the buffer is supported by a bungee cord attached to the lifeline.
Otherwise David's arms would have fallen off by the end of the day

Buffed out with 3M Marine Cleaner and Wax.

That's me, applying Trinidad with a roller. The price of bottom paint
was a shock -- $200 per gallon.

We were dog tired again, but it was worth it. She's starting to looking
well cared for on the topsides and fast on the bottom...

I still have one more coat of bottom paint to do tomorrow, and I need
to reconnect the plumbing inside to the new seacocks.

End of day three. We were dog tired again, but it was worth it. She's
starting to looking well cared for on the topsides and fast on the bottom...

I still have one more coat of bottom paint to do tomorrow, and I need
to reconnect the plumbing inside to the new seacocks.